How to Make Instagram Reels With Canva Easily 2026

Start from an Instagram Reel template or design, which Canva sizes at 1080 × 1920 pixels (9:16). Drop a vertical clip onto the canvas and the timeline appears underneath, with the clip's frames stretched across a track you can trim from either end.

Here the clip runs 15 seconds. Because the canvas is already Reel-shaped, what you see in the editor is what followers will see in the feed.

Text laid over the footage is what turns a plain clip into a Reel. In this build a bold serif line, "3 Ways To Grows", sits in the centre with a smaller "Business Tip" label above and a byline below, all taken from a template's existing text styles.

Keep the hook short enough to read in a second or two. That's the window a scrolling viewer gives you.

Open the Templates panel mid-project and pick a scene to drop in as a new segment, like this "Flash Sale Alert!" layout. The panel shows the template's size (Instagram Reel, 1080 × 1920 px), its font pairing (Barlow with Lobster) and a More like this row for scenes in the same style.

Pulling scenes from one family keeps a multi-scene Reel from looking stitched together. When a clip is selected, the toolbar above the canvas also offers Captions, Speed, Slip and Animate. BG Remover carries a crown, which marks it as a Pro feature.

Clips and scenes line up left to right along the bottom, each with its own duration bar. Text sits on separate tracks above the video, so you can trim or move it without touching the footage.

This build totals 48 seconds. Play the whole thing through before exporting.

Look for a scene that lingers, text that doesn't clear before the next clip, or a jarring jump in style. Put the strongest visual first. Dead air in the middle loses viewers before they reach the call to action.

If the Reel is between 3 and 60 seconds, click Share, then See all, choose Instagram, and connect your account the first time. You can't schedule it.

Instagram doesn't allow Reels or Stories to be scheduled through Canva, so it publishes when you share. On a phone, the Canva mobile app can hand the Reel to Instagram if both apps are installed.

For anything longer than 60 seconds, click Share, then Download, choose MP4 Video, and upload the file in Instagram yourself. There's no Instagram-specific export preset in Canva: the Reel shape comes from the design size, and the file is a standard MP4 at 1080p by default. In the Instagram app, turn on Upload at highest quality (Profile, Menu, Media quality) so Instagram doesn't compress it further.